Page 34 of The Runaway
She was already naked when I entered my room, and I set my armful on the dresser to fish the drawers for a shirt.We should do that, too… get some shirts that she can put on easier. I only have t-shirts.
“I can sleep for days.” Helping her into the shirt, I only nodded at her tired, laden words. The brightness of broken blood vessels in her shoulders had dulled to a muddy black-blue, but the meds for her hand would help with the swelling. Frankly, the doctor hadn’t paid any attention to her shoulders, which was relieving. They were just bruises, so there was nothing he could do about them.
“I’mgoingto sleep for days. I’m sorry this has been such a shit show, Joci. If I thought my mom was gonna be that vindictive, I would have insisted we didn’t go.” Honestly, it was both our faults— if I was a little less of a dense idiot, and she wasn’t so adamant to impress my family despite her shoulder, we could’ve managed a lot better. Joci didn’t verbally reply, only pressing her forehead against my chest, and I reached to scratch her crown. She practically purred, and a small smile tilted my lips as I kissed her forehead.
“I turned my phone off. You should, too.” For some reason, scratching her head like a cat was as relaxing for me as it was for Joci. It was a mindless, intimate gesture that took no energy but gave a lot of nice, tingly sensations. Honestly, that was a dumb way to put it, but she’d said it herself— I was dumb.
And I was okay with all of this shit because at least it’s happening early on. I hadnointention of breaking up with Joci over life-threatening gang affiliation…is this even considered a gang, or is it more like Al Capone shit?
“I don’t thinkThanksgivingis fun. It was nervous.” Pressing my cheek against her crown, I cupped the back of Joci’s head as she murmured hoarsely. “Sucks.”
“We’ll make our own holidays. Ones we’llwantto celebrate, not feel like wehaveto. It’ll be like… Pizza Day— or Do Nothing Day— or Bring You to Work Day.” I could feel her smile against my sternum, and I leaned back to draw her lips to mine in a soft, quick kiss. “Let’s just sleep, and hopefully this’ll all be over when we wake up.”
“You know something, Jacob?” Humming softly, I rounded the side of my bed while Joci crawled up from the foot. She didn’t lay down immediately, and I pulled back the comforter before she spoke up again. “I think you have enough drama. You don’t need mine.”
My eyes met hers, and I shook my head slightly before climbing into bed. That comment I’d made seemedsolong ago, and Joci laid down tensely on her belly. Her casted hand found its way to my chest, but— unlike her— I hadn’t bothered to take off my clothes. I was too damned tired.
“I’m glad I had the balls to approach you in that bar. Best 50$ bucks I ever spent.” Behind my shuttered lids, I could remember so vividly the look of wonder on Joci’s face when she cracked open a mozzarella stick for the first time. Gingerly cuddling to my side stiffly, her weight felt good as she slung a leg over my waist.I probably wouldn’t change anything.